Organization is probably one of my weak points. I can find things when I need them, but it’s mostly by digging until I find them. Add to that the fact that I just finished a move, and things are pretty hectic here. Is it any wonder organization of records is on my mind?

Now, I’m not about to run out and spend a bunch of money to improve my organization. I have places to file things; I just haven’t taken advantage of what I have. So that’s the obvious place to start.

The paperwork I’ve filed to make my home business legal at my new address is one of the first things I need to organize. Need to know when to renew my license next year, and such. I also really need to keep better track of my check stubs, so I don’t have to scramble around finding them at tax time, which is, of course quarterly.

No matter your business, you need to be able to keep track of your earnings and expenditures. After all, if you spend it for your business, you can probably deduct it from your taxes. I know I’ve missed out on deductions for not keeping adequate records. So there’s another something I need to track better, probably through a combination of filed paper receipts plus tracking in Excel to make it easier to come up with the totals later.

I only do limited advertising, but that’s another area to keep careful records on. You want to know when the ad ran, what it cost and how effective it was, both in terms of traffic and ROI. ROI can be a little tricky, since you never know if people just bookmarked your site and buy later. But you have to track what you can and have a newsletter or other means to encourage people to come back, to make the most of those who don’t buy right away. Even if the initial ad doesn’t make them buy, you can try to get another shot at the sale.

Probably the thing I file best are my Bookmarks. I have a tremendous number of folders in my bookmarks, and many have multiple subfolders. It may sound difficult, but it allows me to find bookmarks that would otherwise be effectively lost forever. I don’t recall the statistic, but I do know a somewhat low number of bookmarks are ever looked at again. I try to avoid doing that myself, although I do regularly come up with items that I haven’t looked at in years.

Proper records will help your business in many ways. Well kept paper records will make it easier for you to show proof of earnings and expenditures in case you need them, while electronic records can allow you to track things particular to how you are running your business. Take a little time and try to get your business organized.